Mended Bonds (Redux)
by Gewtz
Summary: This is the rewrite. Timmy is excited for summer vacation, mostly because it will be the first one where his parents take him with them. Three whole months of sunshine and sandy beaches, or so he thinks. Life never works out the way you want it to, and for Timmy Turner, it's no exception. How will he come to terms with the hand he's been dealt? Only one way to find out!
1. 01:(New) New Beginnings

01:(New) New Beginnings

Timmy Turner woke up early on this Friday. Today was special. He knew today was going to be great, not matter what, this day would be one for the ages. Cosmo and Wanda were still asleep, which was unusual since they were the ones who normally woke him up, and on a school day no less. Yes, today was a school day and Timmy was actually excited for it, because it was the last day of school before summer vacation. He decided that he would let his fairy godparents sleep in today. They could meet up with him after school once they woke up, they deserved a good rest every now and then. Besides, it was the last day of school, in the young man's opinion he couldn't think of a situation where he would need their intervention.

He was happy, it was the day before spring break **and** his parents had actually included him in their plans for their vacation this year. A trip on a cruise, two whole months living the life. Though Timmy could visit any continent he wanted with the help of his fairy godparents, this would be an adventure he could actually have with his family and be able to speak openly about afterwards. This would also be a story he could tell his friends about when he came back, though his story wouldn't be the only exciting one. It was shaping up to be an eventful summer for everyone.

He stretched lazily and stumbled over to his closet, he was in no real rush. Being up early certainly did have its advantages but it wasn't something he planned to start doing regularly. He pulled his signature pink shirt over his head and donned his lucky pink cap before making his way out of his room and downstairs. He plopped down on his seat at the kitchen table, a bowl of cereal resting before him. Honestly by this point Timmy was sick and tired of cereal, but it's all he's ever known so he wasn't going to complain. He wasn't going to let something so trivial bring down his spirits. As he poured milk into his Crash Nebula Bites, he finally noticed his father peering mindlessly into his morning paper.

Mr. Turner, seeming to have noticed him as well, let out a tired acknowledging "Ugh." And took a sip of his coffee before disappearing back into his newspaper.

Timmy smiled to himself, he wasn't surprised by his father in the slightest, because he really wasn't a morning person unlike his mother who was already zipping around the kitchen preparing her lunch for the day. She nodded in his direction with a smile as she snapped the Tupperware lid closed on what Timmy assumed was their leftovers from his parents' date night yesterday. She certainly was no cook so he couldn't imagine her making anything to eat, even for herself.

 _She certainly is chipper this morning, she must be just as excited as me,_ he thought. As she tucked her lunch into her small cooler, she greeted him, thankfully far more coherently than her husband, with "Good morning! Are you excited?"

Timmy nodded, though as he did, he felt his excitement ebb away and all his energy came crashing down. He now regretted going to sleep so late, but he couldn't really help it, this was going to be a summer unlike any other and he just couldn't wait for it to start. He yawned before settling down to finish his cereal while his parents were gearing up to get out the door. Meaning Timmy was left to clean up after his parents and put the food away before it spoils. He yawned once again as he got up to put his dish in the washer. All this yawning was just making it worse. Maybe he should just walk to school today instead of taking the bus, the cool morning air would definitely help wake him up and it wasn't like he didn't have the time on his hands. He smiled as he grabbed the box of children's cereal, Crash Nebula Bites. Though he hadn't watched the show in years, he still ate the cereal every morning, which only now struck him as odd as his childhood cartoon hero smiled back at him. He placed the box in the pantry before lazily heading to the stairs and plopping down on the first step to put on his sneakers and grab his backpack. With one last yawn and a final thought to occupy his mind as he stepped outside, he locked the door and smiled wide. _Today is the day that everything changes._

The brunet had finally fully awakened as he arrived at the steps to Dimmsdale High, it wasn't anything special, far from it. The school had been open for nearly a hundred years and it had only been remodeled maybe once or twice in that time. In Timmy's opinion it was long overdue for a cleanup. The paint was chipping from the walls, the seats were cracked and scuffed, and they even still used chalkboards. Now that he thought about it, they might even be the original chalkboards from when the school first opened. The grounds were unkempt, the football field was a disaster and the baskeball gym was in serious disrepair. It didn't bother him that much since it didn't directly impact him as he didn't play either of those sports. Though one thing they had done right was keep up to date on textbooks which suddenly made a lot of sense as to why the rest of the school was in such poor shape. Timmy shook the thought from his head as he climbed up the steps and made his way inside through the double doors.

Class was going very smoothly, it was already fourth period as Timmy sat in his history class. It was a class that he both loved and hated, it was the class he looked forward to the most because this year he was able to share it with his friends. His two best friends, AJ and Chester McBadbat, and to a lesser extent of friendship, Tootie Valentine. The major downfall with this class however, was their teacher, who was surprisingly absent as the class got into their seats. Timmy and Chester turned around to face AJ as they all exchanged greetings. They talked hopefully that perhaps their teacher would miss today but before they could get too deep into the conversation the boys were nearly startled out of their seats as the classroom door was kicked open.

Denzel Crocker slithered into the room and sat calmly at his seat with a wicked smile slathered across his oily face. The class sat in awkward silence as the man adjusted his glasses to read of the roll sheet, Timmy drifted off in his thoughts. He thought he had finally escaped this lunatic when he graduated from Dimmsdale Elementary School but it turns out Crocker had retired from there the year following. With nothing to occupy his then vast free time, he soon suffered a psychotic break and was shipped off to an insane asylum where nobody heard from him for years as he was getting special "help" for his crazy notions of fairies. To everyone's surprise he had been released last year after finally being deemed "sane". Even more surprising was when he was hired to teach History at Dimmsdale High, though there was talk that a certain redheaded woman in his life had pulled some strings for this to happen. As it stood, he was Timmy's history teacher last year, this year, and it looks like he would also be his teacher next year as well. There was just no escaping this madman it seemed though, to Timmy's relief, he was far from the threat he once was. Now he seemed to be significantly calmer, he didn't spaz into a mass of jittering limbs at the mention of fairies, though that was probably due to the medication he had to take now. As it turns out, when he isn't going on crazy tirades or being a general mad man he is actually a pretty effective teacher. Timmy was actually learning things and although he wasn't passing the class flawlessly, he was maintaining a high B+.

"Turner!" Crocker boomed from his desk, snapping him out of his thoughts as all eyes were now on him. The thin man put the papers aside on his desk and stood up as he walked over to the chalkboard before continuing, "This may be the last day before summer vacation but don't think I can't still give you one last detention before then! Now stop daydreaming and pay attention!" Timmy could only nod as Chester and AJ snickered at him, much to his annoyance.

Crocker adjusted his tie, before taking a deep breath, now addressing the whole class, "This year I have opted out of giving you a summer paper to write-" Before he could finish the class broke out into a roar of delight at having yet another class where there was no summer work to be done.

Mr. Crocker's lips cracked into a dry smile as he hushed the class before continuing, "However! Don't think this means I'm going easy on you, expect to write a paper upon your return." Crocker's smile split even wider as despondent groans graced his ears.

He scoffed, "Pfft, teenagers, there is just no pleasing you, would you like a paper to write over the summer and another upon your return?"

Expectedly, the resounding reply was a shouted, "NO!"

He adjusted his glasses and pursed his lips, "Then don't complain, but don't believe that I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart."

Chester couldn't help it, he snorted a laugh at Crocker's words. To his dismay, his attention snapped to the freckled young man who instantly regretted his outburst. Timmy and AJ simply hung their heads as they awaited Crocker's wrath to come crushing down upon their friend. He spoke through his gritted teeth, "Is something I said humorous to you, Mr. McBadbat?" Chester's mouth opened, probably about to deliver a smartass remark but Crocker cut him off, "Keep in mind that your answer not only affects your summer workload but that of your fellow classmates as well…"

Beads of sweat rolled down Chester's forehead as he could feel the death glares of every pair of eyes in the room lock onto him and dig into his skull. If looks could kill. His voice cracked like a prepubescent boy as he stuttered, "N-no, Sir. I apologize for my interruption."

Crocker smiled smugly at this, before turning around to return to the chalkboard, "Good, now as I was saying, I'm not doing this out of the kindness of my heart, I'm going to take this opportunity to enjoy this summer as much as you all would."

Many students arched their eyebrow as they scratched their brains trying to imagine the thin disturbing man in front of them doing anything even remotely fun. "I'll be blunt, I've met someone who has given me purpose, and she has convinced me to "take it easy" as she would say, so I'm going to do just that." The girls in the class oohed and aww'd at Crocker's sentiment and Timmy found himself significantly relieved at this news. Though he had to stifle his laughter as Chester and AJ pretended to vomit. _If this mystery woman is able to keep him occupied, then I have nothing to worry about anymore it seems._ He glanced over to Tootie's desk two seats over only find it empty. He frowned before averting his attention back to Crocker. Before the man could continue, the bell rang ending the class. As all his students hustled out of the room, Crocker shouted at them not to run while no one heed his words.

Timmy, Chester, and AJ made their way to the cafeteria and got seated at their usual table and soon afterwards they were joined by Sanjay and Elmer. For being such a small group they chatted noisily about their summer plans, each asking what the other would be up to but with everyone talking all at once it was hard to have a word be heard, they decided it would be better to just take turns.

Going clock-wise they started with AJ, who was nearly bursting with excitement and pride. "Gentleman, it seems like everyone will be quite preoccupied this summer, Crocker even has his hands full as it seems. I'm rather excited to inform you that I will be attending a science convention for the beginning of the summer. It's going to be amazing! The event is being held by the best scientists on Earth. The most thrilling part is that it's a two week long event where I will be showcasing my own inventions at my own panel. The world is finally taking notice of my brilliance!"

The guys all nodded, clearly happy for their brainy friend. Chester merely gave a single nod with a smile before suddenly standing on his chair and planting a foot on the table while slapping his hand over his heart, "That's great an' all but I've got that plan beat by a mile! Hear this! Me and my dad already packed up our camper and as soon as school lets out, we're going on a cross country trip to visit every single flapjack joint in America!" Clearly lost in his desire for flapjacks, he stared excitedly off into the distance as drool escaped the side of his mouth.

The others leaned in, waiting for him to continue with what else they would be doing on their trip, Timmy was the next to speak anyway so he broke the silence, "Aaaand?"

Chester snapped out of his flapjack induced daydream and wiped his sleeve across his mouth, "and what?"

Timmy and the others facepalmed before Timmy smiled at his friend, "and is that all you'll be doing?"

A wide smile broke across his face, "Well, yeah, what else would even be worth doing?"

The boys laughed at his simple answer and AJ patted him on the back as he took his seat. "To each their own?" Chester nodded at him as he too joined in the ruckus their table was making.

It drew the attention of the other students but they paid them no real mind, the cafeteria was already loud to begin with anyway. As the boys settled down, Timmy cleared his throat as he was ready to let everyone in on his plans for the trip. "You know, even now I still can't believe it's true but my parents are taking me with them on their vacation this year." Sanjay dropped his fork and everyone's mouth was left agape as their minds had been effectively blown away. Timmy gave a light chuckle, "I know, it sounds crazy, right? We're leaving pretty early tomorrow since we have to drive to the airport in a town a little ways away from us, I think it's called Tremorton, where from there we'll fly first class to a little town in Colorado called Amity Park-"

Elmer cut in, "Amity Park? There's really a town called Amity Park? Isn't that a little weird? Did it start as a park and then the town grew around it?"

Timmy shrugged, "How should I know? I mean it's not like I looked the place up or anything, we'll only be there for like an hour or two. Anyway, like I was saying, from there we'll board another flight to touch down in Sheltered Shrubs, Connecticut where we'll finally be able to board our cruise ship. It's going to be great, we'll float down south to stay at the Bahamas for a whole month before climbing all aboard to snake our way back up and over North America, I don't know how many stops we'll be making along the way but I do know we'll be stopping really quick in Alaska. I think the cruise ends in a little beach town, I think it's called Ocean Shores, my dad has been talking about some restaurant he wants to try really bad when we get there, it's called The Shore Shack. From the way he's been talking about the menu, I've got to say, I'm pretty excited too. After that, we'll take a flight back to Dimmsdale and I'll have the last month to spend with you guys. It all still seems too good to be true."

Sanjay let out a chortled laugh, "Well of course it does, this sounds like it will be your first real trip to anywhere fun. No Crocker, Francis, or…" Sanjay looked about nervously as if speaking her name would summon her to their table, "Vicki." The teenage boys shuddered at the mention of her name, well, all but Timmy that is but no one seemed to notice.

"Yeah, man. I'm sorry, man, that you're the only one she still 'babysits.'" Chester quipped as he patted him on the back.

AJ added, "Indeed, which doesn't really make sense since you're quite capable of taking care of yourself, our parents have come to realize this about us but it seems your parents are still oblivious to this fact."

Timmy was still annoyed by his parents' ignorance but he was thankful that at the same time, like with Crocker, Vicki was nowhere near as brutal as she once was. He was even starting to think she had some redeeming qualities about her. He wasn't just about to out and say that, his friends would go and think he's lost his mind and developed some kind of weird crush on her. That being said, he wasn't about to jump on the bandwagon either. He merely shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, it could be worse. The point is, for the next three months, Vicki will be the last thing on my mind."

The others nodded in agreement, happy and relieved with the fact that he wouldn't be stuck with the red headed demon for the whole time. Chester turned to Elmer and launched a macaroni shell at him with his Spork, "What about you, buddy? What are you doing this summer?"

Elmer took off his glasses and wiped the lens gingerly where Chester's food had landed, a small smile spread across his face, "If you must know, I'm going to visit my Grandmother in France. I haven't seen her since I was eleven-years-old. I've been practicing my French for this trip."

Sanjay perked up at this, "Aha! I've been wondering why you decided to take that French class this year."

Elmer nodded, "Well I want to be able to adapt easily when I get over there."

Chester quirked an eyebrow at him, "You totally wanna impress the ladies when you get over there, don't you?"

The boys glasses fogged up as he blushed, once more taking off his glasses to clean them as he stumbled over his words, "I.. I h-have no idea what you're talking about, I'm simply learning French to better acquaint myself with my Grandmother. Last time she was here, I couldn't understand a single word she said." The side of his mouth curled into a smile, "…But, if a certain member of the opposite sex happens to find my accent charming while I'm visiting, then who am I to deny them company?"

"Thataboy!" shouts Chester as the boys erupt into hollers at Elmer's bold remark.

Sanjay looked glumly down at his lunch tray, Timmy noticed this and prodded, "Hey, what's wrong, Sanjay?"

The boy nodded and shifted in his seat, "Compared to all your plans, mine doesn't sound all that exciting anymore."

Timmy scoffed, "Hey, now listen to me, we're all going to have a story to tell by the end of this vacation, and when we meet back here I know you're going to have a great story to tell us, no matter what your plans are for this summer. So spill, what ya' got?"

A smile appeared on the boy's face as he lifted his head, "I'm just going to go visit my sister in Europe, is all."

"See, that's exciting, and we can't wait to hear how it all goes, right guys?" Timmy motioned to the rest of the group who all nodded in agreement. Timmy closed his eyes and stretched in his seat, the school day was already half way over. As his eyes drifted from the ceiling above him, they came to rest on the empty seat at their table. "I still can't believe Tootie was allowed to miss the last two days of school. That is so unfair."

The rest of the guys only nodded in agreement before Sanjay chimed in, "Even luckier are the populars, I overheard them last week, they were leaving a whole week early to go skiing in Switzerland! Can you guys believe that?!"

Chester rested his head on his hand as he joked, "Of course I can. They're practically made of money so why should they have to follow the normal rules of society?"

Timmy chuckled, "Yeah, well lucky for us, we won't have to deal with their snooty attitudes bringing down our spirits."

Sanjay scanned the room and then spoke in a hushed whisper only the group could hear, "Even luckier than that, I think Francis skipped again today. Which means we're home free guys, we won't be tending any wounds for the beginning of our trips." Everyone shared in Sanjay's excitement as he almost cheered, "We're in the clear!"

As he spoke, the bell rang, and the boys said their goodbyes as they headed hurriedly to their separate classes. Sanjay was right, the rest of the school day passed swiftly with no snags or problems. Timmy was now seated front row in his last class watching the time tick away on the clock. No one really saw the point of this cruel torture, as all throughout the school, every single eye was set on the ticking clock. It slowly ticked away, creeping ever closer to that magic number when the bell sounded and like racers from the gate, they would all sprint and dash to escape the school grounds to begin their own adventures. Timmy had never been as happy in his life as he ran with the mob flooding out of the school doors.

He opted to skip the bus and take a leisurely walk home since he would just be bouncing in his seat the whole way home otherwise. He waved his friends off as they disappeared onto the bus and he started on his way home. He was antsy, so the walk would do him some good to burn off all that energy. As he neared the midway point of home, he was walking along a wooden fence when a dark sensation descended upon him.

Today had been perfect so far, too perfect... Not a single thing had gone wrong, hell, he hadn't even stumbled or misspoken all day. It was wrong, it was a nagging feeling that he could not shake. He now regretted not taking the bus home, though maybe he had dodged the bullet there too. His thoughts were now drenched in paranoia as he pictured the bus getting a flat tire and careening into a ditch somewhere, he soon shook the thought and tried to focus on just getting home.

He picked up his pace to make his was home faster, he soon found himself sprinting down the sidewalk along the fence. He was desperate to get there. He was tempting fate, and almost as if the universe had read his mind, Francis the gray skinned bully rounded the corner. It was too late for Timmy to stop however, as he collided with the hulking tyrant and bounced off of him and onto his back. His head bounced off the sidewalk hard, leaving him in a blurry daze. Not only that but the force of landing on his back had knocked the wind out of him and he gasped for air.

His eyes darted around him to see if there was anyone who would be able to help him. There was no one but him and Francis on the quiet street, he was completely on his own. Francis was bad enough when they were ten but now he was virtually a giant who only found joy in the misery and pain of others. He hefted Timmy to his feet, apologizing with a mocking tone of concern, "Oh, I'm so sorry.. I didn't see you there. Oh looks like you've got a little something on your shirt there."

As Timmy was still struggling to regain his breath, Francis reeled back and hurtled his fist into Timmy's stomach. Any breath Timmy still had left soon left his body as the corners of his vision dimmed and blurred. He doubled over in pain as Francis hooted in laughter at him, "Oh! Who would have guessed, it was just my fist!" As Timmy swung his head up to gasp in vain for air, Francis smirked and reached down to grab him by his shirt collar and hoisted him up into the air. Timmy wheezed as he struggled feebly against the gray giant's grasp.

With a menacing smile plastered across his face, Francis's words dripped with malice as he whispered, "Oh, no! It looks as if you have something else… on your face... Allow me to get that for you…" His lips split to reveal his crooked yellow teeth.

In Timmy's hazy consciousness, his oxygen deprived brain contorted Francis into a gnarly toothed abomination intent on killing him. Fear filled him as the Francis's words finally clicked in his head, though his brain struggled to decipher the distortedly message his ears were relaying, it came to the conclusion that things were about to get even worse.

Francis slammed his fist into Timmy's skull and for a moment Timmy didn't feel anything and momentarily wondered if perhaps this was just some horrible dream that he would soon wake up from. Then, all at once, he came crashing back to reality as pain danced across his face and his vision faded briefly. Why was he still conscious after that punch?

Francis boomed with laughter as blood flowed freely from the younger boy's nose. "Oh, silly me, it was just pain. Let me clear that up for you with my fist!" he once again drove his burly knuckles into Timmy's face. Timmy gasped and cried out in pain, his lungs burned and pleaded for air as his brain, against his wishes, continued to keep him in this conscious plane. His face contorted in pain but he was in agony with every moving muscle. His lip had split, he knew that much. There was a constant ringing in his ears but he wasn't sure if that was really just Francis laughing heartlessly at his pain, reveling in every second of it. Timmy choked out whimpers of pain as it pulsed across his chest and face.

"You know, Turner, I'm impressed. Most people can't even handle a single punch before passing out, but you've taken three. Three! You must be a real glutton for punishment, and I'm more than happy to serve but I'm going to have to cut you off after this last helping! You thought the other ones hurt, you ain't seen nothing yet!"

Timmy shut his eyes, well, he shut his right eye. His left eye had been swollen shut as the bruising had already set in. Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose with each labored shallow breath. His pink shirt had a blood stains streaking down from his collar. His body was limp in Francis's grip and blood pooled and stained the concrete below him. This was it, Francis was going to kill him. The brute laughed madly as he smiled at his victim who was bracing for the punch. His asphyxiation was finally getting the best of him and Francis saw this as one last chance to get a good punch in while he was still conscious.

It was all becoming one dark blur as all he could hear was muffled sound. Timmy felt the gentle breeze run through his hair and absentmindedly noticed that his hat must have fallen off at some point, as his vision blurred even more, he opened an eye to witnesses what must have been Francis's face tenderizer drawing back into the distance, he was readying his final blow. He shut his eye once more, bracing for the inevitable. Timmy heard what must have been a woman shouting from over Francis's shoulder from down the road.

Help finally had arrived and Timmy found himself thanking God for this miracle. Surprisingly, he soon after heard Francis scream out frantically in pain and the next thing he knew he was falling limply to the hard concrete sidewalk, his head smacking hard against the cement once again. It all happened so suddenly he didn't have a second to brace himself, not that he would be able to in his current condition anyway. He thought he heard an unnerving cracking of bone. Timmy didn't feel anything though, he was so far gone that a startling thought entered his mind. _Is this what it's like to die?_

Francis screamed again, even louder. Timmy tried to move, but his body was numb. Francis's screams seemed to wane off into the distance after a moment, as Timmy coughed on what he could only assume was the blood pooling in his mouth as he laid on his back. A blurred figure soon appeared in his vision, though he had no way of making out who it was, what looked like there mouth seemed to be moving rapidly. They were talking to him and he could swear he had heard his name uttered by a woman before darkness overtook him.


	2. 02:Sharp Contrast

**02: Sharp Contrast**

Timmy snapped bolt upright in his bed and gasped out in pain as an explosion in his skull ignited all his senses once again. He struggled not to scream out in agony, it was almost unreal. The pain encased his skull and he crashed back onto his pillow. This was definitely not how he had pictured his vacation starting. He sat up much more slowly this time, wincing while the pain dulled as he moved cautiously. He cracked his right eye open and with blurred vison he found himself in his bedroom with the curtains drawn shut, leaving the room much darker than he was accustomed to. His left eye was swollen shut and his head was killing him.

Timmy raised a hand carefully to his forehead, his fingers felt the bandage wrapping around his head. _Perfect._ His mind was foggy and clouded as he tried to remember what had even happened. All he could really remember was having the wind knocked out him and having Francis rearrange his face. Then as quickly as that was happening, someone stepped in and saved him. Though after that, everything was just a haze, he could have sworn he had been carried. Though he didn't like to admit it, being carried in those arms made him feel so safe.

He let the memory drift away as his attention was brought to more pressing matters; having this pain go away. He leaned over to the fishbowl to wake Cosmo and Wanda. They would make this all better and fill him in on what had happened. To his horror, he saw that the tank was empty. His attention caught hazily on what looked like a small scrap of paper poking out from underneath it. He sighed, this would definitely not be good news. It was Wanda's handwriting alright.

Dear Timmy,

First of all, good morning! We hope you slept well. So sorry, Sport, we know this isn't what you would like to wake up to but it looks like we're going to have to head back to Fairy World for a bit. Cosmo and I are being called in for a hearing, well, it's just Cosmo but he never was good at public speaking so I'm tagging along. They weren't very specific about what it's about. From what I can know, it's about some nonsense that Cosmo got himself stuck in a few years ago. I don't know why it's coming up now, if it was a serious problem they would have put a cease to it as soon as possible. The way it sounds though, it doesn't look like we're going to be able to go on this trip with you and your parents, at least for the beginning. But, maybe that's a good thing? It might be good for you to get some quality time with your family. We'll be sure catch up with you as soon as we can. We love you so, so much… Cosmo keeps telling me to tell you hello… Hi, Timmy! Anyway, we'll be back as soon as we can. Be safe, enjoy the sand, and stay out of trouble. See you soon, enjoy your trip. I'm sorry we didn't wake you up to say goodbye but we felt you need a good night's rest for today. You must be so excited. It's the last day of school, I'm sure it'll be great. We miss you already.

P.S. bye Timmy!

With love,

Wanda & Cosmo

 _At least they wished me well._ Timmy sniffled and sighed, how had he not seen this yesterday morning? He wasn't upset with them, they couldn't have known this would have happened. He groaned in annoyance at the realization that he would have to heal naturally. He cringed. _No magic on this trip for the beginning… The trip!_ He had nearly forgotten all about it. _Well, no sense in wasting the day, I need to get ready._ He slowly slid out of bed, he was sure his parents would want to know he was well enough so they could head out for the airport. He stretched and got dressed as carefully as he could, glancing at the clock it was a little after ten in the morning. They were going to be late for their plane if they didn't leave soon. He wobblingly made his way to his window and cracked open the shade to view the driveway. His eyes hurt as light poured into the room, but it only took a moment for his eyes to adjust. Strange, the car was nowhere in sight, _Maybe they parked it in the garage, or maybe they're at the store. That's probably it._ As he told himself this, he felt a sinking feeling gradually weighing his heart down. _Maybe they had to cancel the trip because of me…_

He made his way downstairs to the living room, but was stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the small note on the table next to the front door. _No… No, no, no…_ His heart nearly stopped. _No, they wouldn't do this to me! I got hurt, yeah, but it's not like that's never happened to me before. Never this bad, but that just means they wouldn't just leave without me after all that. If anything they would cancel their trip, right?_ As he struggled to answer that with a yes, he realized he knew his parents better than that. What kind of people would do this to their only child? They had promised him this time would be different. They swore even, and like an idiot he had believed every word. He ate up every single lie with a smile on his face. He shuffled over to the note but didn't even bother to read it to know what it said, partly because he knew what it said but mostly because he knew he wouldn't be able to handle it. It was just going to be some shoddy reason for abandoning him once again. He rested his head gently against the door frame and tried his best not to break down and cry.

They had left him. He was all alone, Timmy felt his chest tighten for a moment but then he shook his head. No, his parents wouldn't leave him on his own. He was incapable of surviving on his own in their eyes. _She must already be here._ He heard footsteps behind him but didn't care to look. He already knew who it was. He braced himself for a barrage of insults followed by a list of chores for him to complete, but they never came. She reached past him to grab the note. She sighed, which surprised him even further, he had expected her to laugh evilly but was shocked to hear what sounded like pity creeping into her voice as she read the hastily written note aloud.

"Tommy," she mumbles in annoyance to herself as she reads, "after we dropped you off from the hospital, we went to go refund our tickets. We really wanted to stay with you in your time of need and all but the travel agency was only willing to refund us for one ticket, not all three. In fact, they offered to upgrade us to the complete three month package to compensate for only being able to refund one ticket. We would save well over three thousand dollars with one less person on the trip, so how could we say no? We simply could not let this opportunity pass us by. We're sure you understand, you'll heal eventually but a chance like this only comes around once every few years."

Vicki growled as she continued reading, "Vicky-"

"Great… Eight years in and they still can't spell my name right. Typical."

"Vicky has already agreed to watch over you for the duration of our trip-"

"No. I did not."

"and we have paid her in advance-"

"No! The hell they have not!"

"Anyway, the doctor said it's a mild concussion with some contusions or something like that. In all honesty, I wasn't really paying attention. I do know she said that it's very important that you get plenty of love and care with your bedrest, so be sure to get that. We'll be in touch. See you in a few months, Mommy & Daddy."

Vicki flipped the page over and then twice more as she finished reading it, "That's it?! What kind of crappy goodbye is that?!"

The lilt in her voice startled Timmy. _Great, they made her angry._ Now seemed like the perfect time for her to direct her anger at him and start yelling at him, but once again he was met with silence. He sniffled and chanced looking at her only to see her frowning angrily at the note with one hand as if to force it into giving her more information. "They didn't tell me you had a concussion…" She muttered more to herself than him.

He noticed her other hand rested on her hip, her wrist and palm poorly wrapped in gauze. He was too shaken up by his parents' abandonment to care though. "What are you so upset over? It's not like you actually have to watch over me anyway, so go on your skiing trip. You've been talking about it all year." The words came out filled with spite, but he just couldn't care anymore.

Vicki nearly snarled at him, lost briefly in her anger before she put on a serious face, "Shut it, Twerp. From the sound of it, you shouldn't even be walking around, let alone be out of bed. Besides if you die or something, I'll lose my business." She sighed, "And I don't know if you've noticed, but have you seen this?" She raised the bandaged hand for Timmy to see, her wrist looked somewhat swollen from what he could briefly tell. "So I can't really go anywhere adventurous myself, now can I?"

"Still, I can't believe they left you without saying goodbye even." Vicki whispered to herself. She was silent for a moment as she thought something over. "Just go to the kitchen."

Timmy did as he was told, no longer intent on arguing with her. He hadn't noticed it until now but there was a heavenly aroma wafting from the kitchen. He opened the door slowly to see a place setting for two, one with a bowl of cereal and the other with an empty bowl. In the center of the table was what looked like a crockpot? He wasn't sure, but he was sure the great smell was coming from it. He figured the cereal was meant for him as Vicki would no doubt enjoy the mystery dish.

Timmy sat in front of the cereal and as he reached for the spoon, Vicki swooped the bowl away from him and switched it with the empty one. She sat down and started eating her cereal leaving the brunet very confused. He sat motionless and Vicki glanced up at him then focused once more on her cereal. She stood up and took off the lid of the pot, and using a ladle poured some soup into the empty bowl, she glanced at him before sitting back down at her seat. He sat motionless, staring at the chicken noodle soup in front of him. The aroma wafting up to him made his stomach growl in demand.

"Eat." She said in between bites.

Timmy now wondered if maybe the soup was drugged or poisoned. "Did you make this?" he asked.

She shot him a curious glance and only nodded. She was staring into her bowl, obviously done with talking for now.

He didn't know that she knew how to cook, he had never seen her make anything other than toast in the span of the eight years that she had been babysitting him. _Huh, has it really been that long?_ As far back as he could remember, it had always been Chinese food and pizza deliveries whenever she was here. Vicki had always gotten something small for him too but it was always something that he hated eating. Like mushrooms on a pizza or way too much soy sauce. She had made all this food, and it wasn't even for her. He didn't like it, something was off with Vicki but he didn't dare ask what it was. He reached for the spoon and ate in silence alongside the redhead. Finishing with a quiet satisfied burp. That was the best breakfast he had ever had, and it was made by Vicki of all people. The thought suddenly dawned on him that this was the very first time he had had any sort of real breakfast at this dining table in his entire life, it had always been plain cereal or toast with jam. It was a little sad to him now.

He looked glumly down at his dirty plate and then realized that it was all a trap. This great food meant Vicki had left all the cooking ware for him to scrub and clean. He glanced woefully over to the kitchen sink only to see it sparkling clean and void of a single dish. He turned back to Vicki who was lost deep in thought, "No dishes for me to clean?"

Her pink eyes scanning the bowl in front of her, she didn't move to look at him, she just muttered that she had already done them. She stood suddenly and took Timmy's empty bowl and started to clear the table.

Meanwhile he couldn't take his eyes off of her, who was this girl? She wasn't acting like herself at all, she wasn't yelling or angry, she was quiet. Almost nice even, she was breaking all his known notions of how Vicki acts as a person. So many questions were plaguing his mind as he sat in silence at his seat. Was any of this really happening right now? Why hadn't his parents given him a real goodbye? Why didn't they tell Vicki they had planned to be gone for months? For that matter, why did she stay? Why wasn't she yelling at him or screaming at him to do things? What happened to her hand? It was bandaged pretty poorly, just thickly wrapped in gauze. His head was starting to hurt with all these questions. What had happened to Francis? Why wasn't Vicki acting like Vicki? He was staring into her fiery ponytail and couldn't shake his gaze.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" He didn't even realize he has asked her the question, he was so lost in thought that he was snapped back to reality when she froze. She didn't move and for a moment Timmy thought that his heart had stopped along with time so that he could appreciate these last few moments of being alive. His eyes darted from her fiery red hair to the kitchen door before locking back onto her. If she lunged at him, he would make a run for it. He wouldn't make it far since she was still faster than him, but he had to try at least.

She gripped the edges of the counter and sighed, "You have a serious head injury. What am I supposed to do? Treat you like dirt as usual until you pass out and I'm forced to take actual care of you? Then you would take longer to heal and that just means more work for me in the long run." She swiveled on her heels and glared at him with her piercing pink eyes. "So to be clear, I'm not being nice, I'm saving myself a headache."

"O-oh, um okay." He shrank into his seat at her words. He knew it, there was always some ulterior motive with this woman. He would take this kindness for as long as he could, there was no point in trying to fight it.

She rolled her eyes and went back to cleaning the dishes. After a few minutes, she looked over her shoulder to find Timmy still sitting at the table looking uncomfortable. Vicki facepalmed and told him to go lay down on the couch while she finished up. He did as he was told and fell asleep as soon as he laid his head on the couch pillow.

...

His mouth felt dry, his head swirled in a torrent and it took all he had not to vomit. He sat up to fight the feeling climbing up his throat but was hit with pain. He was getting so sick of this. He opened his eye to see stars but they soon faded into darkness. He waved his hand in front of him and grew frightened when he couldn't see it. He was blind. All at once the panic set in. Was this because of the concussion? Fear shook his body to the core and he called out for Vicki. He clambered to his feet but froze when he saw a sliver of light escaping from under the kitchen door.

He sighed in relief. Thank God, I'm not blind… he laughed as his body shook with relief. _No, I'm just an idiot standing in the dark_. He paused as it hit him, he had called out for Vicki for help. He blushed as the realization set in with a mix of embarrassment and confusion. He really hoped that she hadn't heard that desperation in his voice. Taking a quick glance around after his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he figured it must be night time. The weird thing was how quiet it was. The house was eerily silent as he reached over to turn the lamp on. The light was so bright that for a moment he almost wished he was blind. _Where's Vicki?_ The house was dead silent as he walked into the kitchen, there was no one there. The light over the kitchen table was on and it set an eerie mood for the room, it definitely made Timmy uncomfortable as he backed out into the living room. As he checked room after room, it dawned on him that he was absolutely alone.

None of the lights were on except for the kitchen and living room, it was as if Vicki had evaporated into thin air. He honestly couldn't remember the last time he was truly alone. Whenever his friends weren't around, he had his parents. Whenever they were gone, Vicki took their place. Whenever he was hiding away from her, he had his fairy godparents, but he always had them really. Now, for the first time in years, he was truly alone. The idea of it made him shake in fear. He had no reason to be scared but he couldn't reason it away. It ate at him and rooted his feet to the floor as he felt his chest tighten again. He took shallow breaths as the room started to spin. He was terrified. Wanda and Cosmo were gone for who knows how long. His friends were off on their vacations, blissfully unaware of Timmy's predicament. His parents had literally ditched him for months of warm sand and sunny beaches and dumped him on Vicki. Worst of all, now, the one person he had never expected to take real care of him was missing. Vicki had completely disappeared.

He was nearly hysterical as control of his legs came back to him, his breathing hitched as he shuffled around the house. Everything was becoming blurry again as tears openly fell down his cheeks. He was crying, but he didn't care as he cried out her name. His desperate pleas for an answer were met with silence. He cried out for her again and again, each time sounding more and more frantic as he searched the house in a vain attempt to find her. He wanted to believe that this was just some cruel joke she was playing on him. To get back at him, for whatever he had done wrong. He would feel so much better if she just came out and told him it was just some stupid prank. He was crying so badly that he felt like a stupid little kid. He didn't care though, he was alone and scared. He collapsed onto the floor and sobbed. What was happening to him? He would give anything not to be alone. Just as if his prayers had been answered, the rumbling of an engine could be heard outside and he hobbled quickly over to the window to see Vicki's car pull up to the sidewalk.

He stumbled over to the front door and yanked it open to start running towards her. Vicki by this point had already gotten out of her beat up little car and was now on the passenger side and setting a garbage bag full of things on the front lawn. She turned to the house only to see a blur heading straight for her. Before she could do anything, Timmy crashed into her and fell on top of her as they landed in the grass. "Turner! What the fu-" the rage on her face died and was flush with concern as he heaved and gasped for breath. He wrapped his arms around her waist and cried into her chest. She instinctively hugged him back. _Screw the tough act, something's seriously wrong_. Her eyes darted to the front door, it was wide open. Could there have been a break in? No, this was something else. He was in such a panic that he was struggling to take in air. She pushed him back enough to get a good look at his face, she grabbed him by his cheeks. "H-hey, calm down. What's wrong? Just breathe, Twerp." Timmy was a crying mess as he was struggling to breathe, Vicki pulled him close and held him against her. "Timmy, focus! Look at me, just focus on me and hear my voice. You need to calm down. I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere. So just relax and tell me what's wrong… please..."

She held his face in her hands and his blue eyes stared into her with tears streaming down his cheeks. He shut his eyes tight and tried to calm down and regain control. He inhaled and the air burned in his lungs, and he let out a harsh puff of air. She was here, she was really here. He was thankful but felt so immature, he was crying like a child and he couldn't stop. Her hands slipped from his face and rested on his shaking shoulders. She held him close, silently waiting for him. She had no intention of asking if he was alright. It would be stupid to ask that, he was a shaking mess. Timmy cleared his throat, trying to find his voice once again. He was clearly embarrassed but Vicki made no effort to poke fun at him. He sniffled and wiped away a tear. "I… I woke up.. and y-you were gone… I w-w-was all alone." He took in a deep breath, "I don't know why but that made me panic." He paused and took in another breath.

For a brief moment, his eyes flitted from the pink orbs staring back at him to the stray strands of her locks as they rested on her brow. His eyes trailed from the slivers of red to the sea of fire her head rested on. Blades of green grass poked up and out from her curls and locks. It reminded him of blazing forest fire, the image was beautiful in a way he never would have thought before. Oddly, it left him feeling calm, serene.

He tore his eye away from her and finally took notice of how they were positioned. He could feel his cheeks heating up as he looked down and then back up to Vicki's face. The side of her lip curled up into a smirk as she raised an eyebrow at him, "Something wrong, Twerp?" He was laid on top of her and felt his body pressed against hers. Vicki was on her back with Timmy's knees in between her legs as he laid on top of her.

A deep crimson blush spread across his cheeks as he moved to get up. "S-Sorry."

Before he could get anywhere, Vicki's grip on him tightened. "Hey, take it easy. Let me help you." They awkwardly pulled each other to their feet.

Timmy stumbled on his footing and nearly fell, Vicki caught him as he struggled to maintain balance. "Looks like you're still not quite steady on your feet yet." Timmy only sniffled, not really having a leg to stand on in an argument at the moment. "Look… I'm… sorry that I left without saying anything. I just went to go get my things since I'll be watching over you for so long…" The cool air of the night and the evening dew of the front lawn seeping into the back of her shirt made her shiver. She looked over to Timmy, pink shirt, blue jeans, all the same as yesterday, minus the shoes and hat. _He's going to get sick if he stays out here barefoot_. "Let's get you inside before you get sick." He nodded and rubbed his head, a throbbing pain was setting in. Running and tackling Vicki sure wasn't helping his head. Vicki checked her watch, "Wow, it really is late. I think you're a little overdue for your next dose."

Her grip loosened as she looked to her bags, "Are you good enough to walk on your own?" Timmy nodded slowly as he swayed in the evening breeze. "If you're sure. Let me just get the rest of my stuff."

She turned back to her car and bent down to reach the floor of the passenger seat. As she bent down, the motion caused her shirt to climb higher up her back and forced her jeans down a little giving Timmy a sight that he should have looked away from much sooner than he did. She grunted as she hefted a large pink suitcase out and set it on the sidewalk. The brunet moved to pick up the bag but just like at breakfast, she was too swift for him and scooped it up with her free hand. "Uh-uh Turner, just walk." It was clear she wasn't going to accept any help from him so he just walked with her back to the front door as she struggled with her things in tow.

Timmy shut the door behind them and the redhead let out a tired huff and let her things fall to the floor in the entranceway. "Well, I guess there's my workout for the day." She chuckled as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead.

Timmy chuckled, "You workout?"

She tilted her head and glared at him, "…What are you insinuating with that question?"

He gulped, "Nothing! No, ImeanI' 'reskinny..SoIdidn'tthinkyouwouldneedto."

She stretched, "Geez, don't have a heart attack... Just forget it."

Timmy's headache was coming back now at full force making him stumble on his way to the stairs. Before he knew it, Vicki had swooped him off of his feet and started carrying him up the stairs. She was sweating as she ascended the steps, her eyes met his for a moment then darted back to top of the stairs. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off with a huff, "Don't say a word."

He really didn't know what to say, he was left with the only obvious thing he could state. "You're carrying me."

She let out an annoyed sigh at the halfway point, "Good job, Eagle Eye. And what did I just tell you? You read the note, you need to rest and take it easy. You look like crap and I honestly don't think you can handle walking around let alone climbing stairs at the moment."

She reached the 2nd story of the Turner residence and continued to carry him towards his room. Timmy chimed in with a nervous chuckle, "We're not on the stairs anymore, so you can set me down now. Besides, aren't I a little too heavy for you? I mean, you are sweating."

Vicki grew a smirk on her face, "Shut it princess, you're not that fat… Yet. I'm sweating because of those damn bags I lugged in here." Her smile faded to a blank expression, "Besides, I'm not going to risk it. I shouldn't have left you alone in the first place." She nudged his door open with her foot and stepped into his room while muttering under her breath, "That's already happened one too many times today…" There was an edge of annoyance in her voice but Timmy was no longer sure if it was because of his parents or just herself.

Vicki set him gently on his bed, and was silent for a moment, "So… You've kind of been asleep for the whole day.." She rubbed the back of her head, showing concern wasn't really her strong suit. "Are you hungry at all? Do you want me to make you anything to eat?"

Timmy shook his head, he had propped himself up and was resting against the head board as he took his medicine. She sat next to him at his bedside, his headache was already starting to go away and he was steadily growing tired... The panic attack had taken a lot out of him. He was still sniffling every now and then. He glanced over at Vicki, expecting her to give him a deadpan expression for acting like such a baby but was surprised when he saw her face.

Vicki looked... sad? He couldn't tell, he wasn't really used to this side of Vicki, maybe it was all new to her too but either way it made her impossible to read at the moment. His eyes drooped down for a moment to land on her injured hand, he had noticed it before but now he wondered how she got hurt. He looked up at her sleepily, "What happened to your hand?"

He thought he saw her blush, which was crazy, but she turned away slightly and stated, "It's none of your business, Turner."

Now he knew she was hiding something. So he thought he would try and outsmart her, as hard as that already was. He knew how Vicki operated for the most part, he could maybe coax it out of her by attacking her ego. "It was something stupid wasn't it?"

She turned to look at him, looking upset, "No, I hurt it breaking some stupid kid's jaw. So shush before I end up with two injured hands…" Vicki glowered at her wrist momentarily as if it had given away her deepest secret before sighing and rubbing the back of her neck with her good hand. "You're just as nosy as Tootie. Look, I wasn't thinking. I let my emotions get out of hand and I threw my punch wrong. End of story." She was looking away but he was almost sure that she was blushing a deep crimson but he couldn't figure out for the life of him why that would be.

Timmy shuddered at the idea of what pain Vicki could unleash upon another human being. A thought then occurred to him. _She was calm and collected, well, as calm and collected as Vicki could be when she was in a fight. Meaning it goes to stand against reason that she would get hurt in the process._ He smiled to himself, "I thought you knew how to throw a punch."

She scoffed, "Of course I do. Like I said, I just wasn't thinking clearly when I swung so I might have sprained my wrist."

Timmy looked at her sideways, "How do you not know? Didn't your doctor tell you what was wrong?"

Vicki laughed suddenly, "Oh, I didn't see a doctor."

Timmy woke up slightly at this, "What?! Why? What if something's broken?"

Vicki leaned in and poked him on the nose, teasingly. "What do you care? Are you worried about me, twerp?"

Timmy blushed deeply and he didn't know why. She had somehow turned this on him. "W-what? No. I mean, if it's something serious, how will you take care of me?" He batted puppy dog eyes at her to which she burst into laughter.

"Seriously Turner, that look has never worked on me, not from puppies, boys, not kids I babysit, and especially not you. Besides, I'm pretty sure I would know if it was broken. Don't worry about me, this is nothing."

Vicki's eyes rested on his bandaged head for a moment before she squirmed in her spot and stammered. That definitely got his attention, "So, Twer-…" She sighed, "Are you alright? I don't mean physically, obviously. Even an idiot would be to tell that you look like crap. I mean, emotionally.. I know you don't have the best parents but I still can't believe they would leave like that..." She pulled the note from her pocket and glared at it.

Timmy sniffled before chuckling, "I can, it was so I wouldn't protest and put them through another 'guilt trip' again, not like they ever listen to me anyway." He bit back his tears as he spoke. He was on the verge of crying and Vicki was the last person he wanted to have to see that again. This was all so overwhelming now. His parents were off on a great trip they were all supposed to be on for three whole months, his godparents were gone for an indefinite amount of time, and he was beaten up far worse than he had ever been in his life so far. Not mentioning the fact that it looked like his friends wouldn't even be back for weeks. _This must be some kind of sick joke_. He struggled even harder to fight back the tears that strained to trail down his face. He shook his head, trying to find something to concentrate on so he wouldn't break down again. "I'd rather not talk about it…" His eye drifted back to her hand, "Heh, he must have been really stupid to get into a fight with you, huh?"

She huffed, she was clearly growing annoyed at the topic that Timmy just wouldn't let go. "Yeah, well he was a very certain type of stupid. Granted, he's also the kind of idiot that is very lucky to still be breathing." She pinched the bridge of her nose before letting out an agitated groan, "Why are we still even talking about this?" The redhead crossed her arms and glared at the young man. Her piercing pink gaze was met with a puffy pink eye staring back at her. "So, what happened to your head, Twerp? Did you walk into a pole again?" she stifled a quiet snicker.

He frowned, irritated that she would bring up that up. "Some stupid guy from school, a bully named Francis." Vicki cocked an eyebrow at his name, intently listening to his story. "He's always picking on me…" Timmy's eyes shifted to the floor in embarrassment at his weakness.

"Like every day?" Vicki cut in, her attention solely on Timmy.

Timmy nods while avoiding her gaze, "Well, every school day, so it might as well be."

Vicki's face was set in a stern stare at him, "Why hasn't your teacher stepped in?"

Timmy shrugs with a frown, "He doesn't care. Besides, Crocker, my teacher, kind of picks on me too… He's obsessed with this crazy theory that I have fairy… godparents…" Timmy freezes as the word roll out of his mouth before he could stop it. The last thing he needed was Vicki on his trail too.. He looks up at her to see her head tilted to the side with a confused look on her face.

"Like… little magic people?"

All Timmy could do was nod and Vicki soon erupted into a fit of laughter, much to his relief, "Oh my God, what a freak! I can't believe they let a schizophrenic like him teach." Vicki wiped a tear away as her laughing fit faded abruptly, "But wait, how does he tie in with what's his name, Francis?"

Timmy smoothed out his blanket absentmindedly, "Oh, well, Crocker's always getting on my case in class and Francis is always bringing me pain and misery anywhere else on campus. Most of the time Crocker does see it but never stops him, I guess they must have some sort of deal going on. Anyway, he's always failing me, on every single thing I do. So while I'm at school I'm always getting beat down either mentally or physically."

This Crocker guy was starting to feel very familiar to Vicki, she could vaguely remember the weirdo in her cloudy memories. "Wait!" she suddenly shouted, making Timmy recoil at her outburst. "Is this one tall freaky looking guy with his ear on his neck?!"

Timmy's jaw dropped, "How do you know Crocker?"

"That **freak** was my teacher. He actually convinced my parents to hold me back a year." The smile dropping from her face, she sighed before continuing, "So what few friends I did have at the time thought I was stupid and soon stopped being my friends… and the bullies, well, let's just say that was only a bit of the cannon fodder that they used against me. But, I guess you know just what that feels like, huh?"

Timmy silently nodded sadly.

She asked with a bit of concern, "…So… do you ever get a break?"

Timmy let out a slight chuckle before sighing deeply, "No, not really."

Vicki tilted her head at him, "Well, what about when you get ho-" she stopped herself mid-sentence, she glanced at the note, still in her hand. She remained silent for a moment contemplating her thoughts. "…I didn't know you had it this hard..." she said while still staring at the note as if she was holding the world in her hands.

Timmy stared at her in wonder, had she really not known? Then another question sifted in front of him, why did it even matter if she knew? Would she treat him differently? Did she secretly care about his well-being? One last one entered his mind, this one would be the only safe one he could ask. "How could you know, Vicki?" The words came out more like a statement than a question but it had been enough to snap her attention back to him.

Vicki was taken aback by it for a brief moment before Timmy continued, "I mean, this is the most we've talked in what? Four or five years? Maybe ever. I don't blame you." Vicki's stare shifted back to the note in her hands while Timmy sat up more, "I guess we're sort of alike. You've had a hard life too it seems. Everyone needs a way to cope with it, some just work better than others.. You have babysitting, I'm guessing. And me, well, I… I have my imagination. When my friends are nowhere to be found that is." Timmy didn't dare to reveal more on his fairies than he already had but he found himself waiting for a response from Vicki.

A moment passed before she finally spoke, ever so softly but loud enough for him to hear every word. "When I was a little girl, I used my imagination to get away, too. I even had an imaginary friend… I can even still remember his name…" She shook her head as she sharply snapped out of her thoughts and growled. "Enough of this sappy talk, it's going to make me vomit. More importantly, you really do need to get some rest. I'll bring you some soup in the morning, you haven't eaten much these past two days so expect a big helping, Twerp."

Timmy was fighting desperately to stay awake at this point, she had been dodging the question of why she was even in a fight in the first place and had run out the clock. His evening medication was in full swing. He readjusted in bed, closing his eyes for only a moment and once again fell asleep.

He had just fallen asleep when he felt something wet and soft press gently against his forehead, his eyes crept open slowly to see her walking away, quietly stepping out of his room, he felt his forehead gently. Had she kissed him goodnight? A small smile crept across his mouth as he fell into a deep sleep.


	3. 03:The Other Side of the Coin

**03: The Other Side of the Coin**

Vicki glanced over her shoulder to see a smile spread across Timmy's face. Before she realized it, she was smiling too. She shook her head and gently shut the door before creeping down the hall as not to make too much noise. From the top of the stairs she stared down at the heavy bags as they waited for her to heft them upstairs. She scrunched up her nose in annoyance and blew a lock of hair out of her view, "Well, screw that.. I'm going to bed.."

The girl stretched for a moment before turning around and heading for the Turner's guest bedroom. She tip toed past Timmy's room once again but stopped as she passed the door. _What the hell am I doing? The twerp sleeps like a rock and is probably dead to the world with all the medication pumping through his body. But he wouldn't even need to…_ Vicki shook the thought from her mind. _I can't think about that.._ She pushed open the door to the spare room and flicked on the light.

 _The Turner's sure don't spare any expense, do they?_ The room was bigger than her own back home. The walls were painted a plain white but the room was fully furnished with a bed set, television, and bookcase. Vicki pondered why they didn't ever really use the room, it wasn't like the twerp had any relatives visit in the time she had started babysitting him. It just felt like this room was going to waste. It even had a walk in closet and its own bathroom!

If they didn't pay her so much, she would be more upset by how little money means to the twerp's parents. _His parents…_ Her fist clenched involuntarily at the thought of those idiots. They had been negligent in the past but this was really setting the bar for how terrible they can be. She sighed, "I can't think about that right now, it's just going to piss me off more than I already am." She ran her hands through her red hair and winced at the aching pain in her hand and cursed under her breath, "Dammit." With her good hand she undid her ponytail and her fiery locks fell about her shoulders, but with her hair feeling slightly greasy she headed for the bathroom. "Might as well take a relaxing shower before bed."

The green V neck hit the floor followed by her purple bra and was followed in kind by the rest of her clothing. She turned on the faucet and watched as the stream of ice cold water splashed against her fingertips. _There's always a catch. Looks like the water is going to take a bit to get steaming hot. Just how I like it._ It wasn't like she put it so hot that it hurt but just before that and Vicki was in paradise. She hesitantly undid the bandage, her knuckles were pretty swollen and darkened with bruises. She winced as she wiggled her fingers, maybe it was worse than she thought. _One things for sure, Francis's face was harder than I thought. What was I even thinking?_ She drifted off into how it all had come to this…

She had just charged straight in and slugged him as hard as she could. No plan, no tactics, only pure instinct. Francis was going to hurt the kid and he was going to regret it. Vicki had never actually seen the twerp get physically hurt, while it was true that she threatened him with bodily harm on a daily basis it was really only a tool to get him to work. Never had she ever fallen through with her threats. That's all they were really, just empty threats. The red headed "demon" could be mean, but beating on little kids wasn't really her bag. As much as she hated to admit it, it always ate at her whenever she would come over to watch him only to find one of those big blue eyes swollen shut. She had only ever seen the aftermath, either the shiners or bloody lip. She figured that there might even be some bruising on the rest of his body but she tried not to think about it. Either way, it always struck her as odd that his parents never seemed to notice his injuries, or was it really possible that they just ignored them?

The Turners had always been her great customers, never asking too many questions, no lists or stupid rules, and best of all they accepted her high rates. While they were her greatest customers, in the parenting department they were severely lacking. Vicki felt as if she had spent the majority of her time these days "babysitting" him. She was there for his parties, his parents' vacations and outings, even the holidays it seemed. She had spent more time with him in the past four years than his own parents had. They left him in her care at the drop of a hat. A small company barbeque usually turned into a weekend long event, not that Vicki minded really, financially speaking she had no worries about being able to pay for college or buying her own condo or something along those lines. She did have one worry, she worried about how much of a strain it put on the kid. Vicki really didn't like to admit it but she had gotten attached to him. It seemed there was a lot of things she didn't like to admit about Timmy Turner. She didn't feel like his mom or anything but she did care about him in her own special way.

But she usually just reasoned it away that she was his babysitter after all, so seeing the twerp getting hurt was something that she could not allow. She did care about his well-being and school had just gotten out for everyone. This was a time that everyone was supposed to start being able to relax and just enjoy themselves. The kid didn't really get that very often, it seemed. She just wanted him to have one day at the very least, just **one**. One day where nothing went wrong for him, she had even planned to slack off on him today and just watch a movie instead.

That **was** the plan, she knew his parents would call at some point to watch him so they could sneak away for one last day before they were stuck with their son. It was sad but true, so as the last bell rang and she jogged to her car, she made her way downtown to visit Blockbuster to pick out some movies they might like to watch. But she stopped when she saw Francis walking in the direction of Dimmsdale High school. She felt a pit in her stomach, she did a quick U-turn and headed back down to follow Francis. She couldn't shake this bad feeling, but, she knew she could always trust her gut. She lost him down one of the roads and had to search for him, she saw him round a corner and pulled over once she got onto the street. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Francis hoisting the twerp up by his collar to punch his face in. She just lost it and charged at him.

In broad daylight, two forces to be reckoned with had finally come into contact with each other. One a brute of pure strength and no compassion while the other a swift and nimble "she-demon" that could tear you to shreds with the flick of her wrist, or at least that's what their reputations would lead you to believe. As her fist connected with Francis' jaw, she heard the unmistakable snapping and clicking of bone. Francis screamed in pain, dropping Timmy to the ground in disbelief at having experienced pain for the first time in a long while.

Her triumphant smirk was wiped from her face as the echoing sound of Timmy's head bouncing off of the concrete etched itself into her memories. Oh god, that terrible sound, that sickening crack, it was nearly enough to make her heart stop. It was, however, enough to push her over the edge and into a blind fury. The sight of Timmy crumpled on the concrete set her into such a rage that even she felt fear for what she was capable of doing in that moment. She had just broken Francis' jaw but she was only getting started.

The fear plastered on Francis' face was palpable as he realized who it was he was dealing with, before he could retaliate she pounced again, swinging at his humerus with a snarl. She was graced again with the sound of another of Francis's bones breaking under her might. His right arm now hung limply at his side, his good arm effectively useless. He clutched at the bent protrusion and groaned in pain as his jaw hung loosely from his skull. His eyes refocused through all the pain on Vicki, and he felt true fear. The look in her eyes was enough to tell him that his life was in danger. That at this very moment, his life could end.

He stumbled back as she took a step forward, the malice in her stance as she stood over Timmy, protecting him, was enough for him to realize something. Francis had attacked another hunter's prey and was going to pay a heavy price for it. He kept his stare on her and when her eyes flitted down for a moment to land on the twerp, all the anger left her body. The gray skinned goon took this window of opportunity to turn tail and run like a coward for his life. Realizing his place on the food chain, he stumbled around the corner and out of sight.

She knelt down over him and was almost afraid to touch him, he looked so broken. His eyes were mostly shut but she wasn't sure if he was conscious, "Twer- Timmy. Can you hear me?! Listen, you're going to be okay. Just let me-" She looked up and her eyes scanned for anyone that could help, but there was no one.

They were utterly alone. "Okay, don't worry, I've got you." She gently wrapped her arms around him and hefted him up. His body was limp and if weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest she would have thought he was dead. She could feel his blood seeping into her clothes as it stained her chest. His face and chest were covered in dark crimson. It was bad, Vicki knew she needed to hurry.

There was no time to waste calling an ambulance, she rushed back to her car and set him gingerly in his seat before fastening to her seatbelt and sliding across the hood to slide into her seat. The engine started with a roar as she her tires burned out before she sped down the road. She bobbed and weaved through traffic, her heart racing a mile a minute as she sped to Dimmsdale General Hospital. She pulled up to front entrance with a loud screech of her tires, drawing the attention of passersby and hospital staff.

She held him in her arm as she carried him through the doors, a couple of nurses had wheeled out a gurney as she neared the front desk, and the paramedics took him from her arms as they wheeled him out of sight. Vicki shoved past a few men trying to block her path, "I need to go with him! I'm his babysitter!"

She was stopped when a nurse held her by her arm, "He'll be fine now, he's safe with us, but we need you to tell us what you know. Are you alright, are you hurt at all, miss? Is his family aware?"

Vicki shook out of her grasp, "What?! No, what the hel-" She slowly looked down to see just how much blood was on her, she looked as if she had been stabbed multiple times. She felt her eyes water as she bit back the tears, "No… I'm alright. I'll phone them right now…" She turned away as a lone tear escaped and streamed down her cheek.

She fished her phone from her pocket and grimaced at how his blood smeared across the screen as she dialed his parents. _Please answer, just please._ A low click could be heard before Mr. Turner's voice chimed in, "Vicki! We were just about to call. Looks like it's going to be another long day at the office. How are you today?"

Vicki tried to speak but her voice cracked, "I-I…It's.."

There was a brief silence on the phone before Mr. Turner spoke again, "Vicki, what's wrong? What happened?"

She swallowed hard and fought the burning in her lungs, she pulled herself together. She took in a sharp shaky breath, "Its Timmy. He's hurt."

"..Is he alright? Where are you?"

She slumped in her seat, "We're at Dimmsdale General Hospital now. I don't know if he's okay… there's so much blood.. I'm so sorry…" She cried into the phone, she didn't know why she was apologizing. Well, to his parents at least.

"Vicki don't be, we're on our way right now. We'll be there in five." With a click he ended the call and Vicki sat in silence.

Her shoulders shook as she sobbed silently. The nurse, thankfully, gave her some distance as she sat in the empty waiting room. It took a solid before she was able to get settled, she stood up and walked up to the counter. The nurse turned from her monitor, "Are you ready, dear?"

Vicki usually hated that term but understood that the nurse was just trying to be gentle. "I am. His name is Timmy Turner, I'm his babysitter but he wasn't under my care when this happened. I was driving home from school when I saw a suspicious looking guy in the neighborhood, I did a U-turn to go back to try and get a description for him. When I caught back up with him, he was already attacking Timmy. I pulled over and ran out yelling at him, the guy dropped him and ran off."

The woman raised her eyebrow, "He just gave up and left?"

Vicki avoided her gaze, "Y-yeah… I threatened that I had already called the cops and that they were on their way. I picked Timmy up and drove him over here myself."

The nurse gave a curt nod before she continued typing down what Vicki had said. "Okay, one last thing. If I can get your name, we'll be all set for now."

Vicki sighed with relief, "Alright, my name is Vicki Valentine."

As she finished up with the nurse, Timmy's parents walked briskly through the door. They paused for a moment when their eyes fell on her. She looked as if she was the lone survivor of a slasher fic. They were wearing straw hats while dressed in shorts and Hawaiian shirts, which was suspicious and confusing to Vicki. Mr. and Mrs. Turner pulled Vicki into a hug, surprising her. They were no doubt getting his drying blood on their colorful clothes but they held her close and Vicki found her resentment towards them grow even more. _Why can't they be this nurturing with their own son?_

The tone of Mrs. Turner's voice was so serious it startled her when she spoke, "Thank you for being there to keep him safe, Vicki. We can never repay you for this." It sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

This felt so surreal to the redhead. She cleared her throat and waved it off as a dull pain slowly overtook her hand, "No, I was just doing what anyone would have done. But this did take a lot out of me, if you don't mind, is it alright if I head on home now?" She didn't really need to ask them permission but had committed to keeping up this girly saccharine persona.

Mr. Turner smiled, "Of course. Don't worry, we'll take over here." As Vicki walked over towards the exit, Mr. Turner called out to her again, "Vicki?"

She turned, "Yes?"

With a happy smile, he said, "Thank you again, really."

She nodded and walked out to her car. She tugged the door open and took one last glance at the hospital as it loomed over her. It made her uneasy, she was just leaving him here. Yeah, his parents were there but that didn't mean they would be all that caring with him. They were bipolar with their affections, but that wasn't the right word for it. Two faced seemed better but still wasn't quite right. Timmy needed someone that actually cared about him, someone who will keep him safe. _Like who? Me?_ The question threw her off guard as she mulled it over.

Her attention was drawn back to the hospital. She shuddered as she looked up at the sterile building, being in hospitals made her extremely uncomfortable. And here she was having just spent at least twenty minutes inside one without even noticing. She still couldn't believe it. She had spent most of her childhood in one and she wanted to keep it that way. Fuzzy memories poked into her consciousness but she shook the thought away as her injured hand brought her back to reality. She winced, her knuckles had swollen significantly and were starting to darken. She climbed into her car and pulled out onto the road.

The drive home was anything but peaceful. She was distracted, wondering if Timmy was alright. She still couldn't believe she had lied about what had happened. _It wasn't just some shady guy, it was Francis Finnic. I never called the cops, I just attacked him and…_ Vicki looked down at her bruising hand, its grip on the steering wheel tightened for a moment. _and… if he didn't run, I don't know what I would have done.. If I had fessed up, then the police would detain Francis, and they would no doubt want to question Timmy about it all. Meaning he would miss his flight and his family wouldn't be able to go on their trip._ _I suppose that's not too bad, but I just feel like they would use that as an excuse to ditch him like usual._ Vicki pushed the thought away as she pulled into her driveway and saw that her parents' car was missing. _They must be out prepping for the trip._

She eyed Tootie sitting on the porch swing, texting away on her phone. As Vicki made her way along the walk way she was startled when Tootie screamed and rushed over to her in tears.

She crashed into her older sister and started speaking a mile a minute. "Vicki! Oh my god! Are you okay?! What happened? Where are you hurt?"

Vicki looked at her confused until she remembered that she was covered in Timmy's blood. _I can't tell Tootie that though, she had nearly had a heart attack when she thought it was just me that was hurt, but if it was the "love of her life?" I'd be making another drive to the hospital.. Sorry, Toots, I don't like lying to you but it's for your own good._ She tussled her hair, "Calm down, it's not my blood."

Tootie backed away, a look of concern on her face, "what do you mean?"

Vicki hid the hurt she felt. _Don't look at me like that… I'm not the monster everyone thinks I am. I don't need you jumping on the bandwagon, too._ "Look, it's sort of complicated, the blood isn't mine but it's not from the guy I attacked.. I'll tell you more when I'm ready, fair enough?"

Tootie nodded before Vicki continued, "The only ding I got out of the whole thing was just this." She raised her swollen hand, the knuckles had turned a deep purplish brown.

Tootie grabbed her wrist, "Jeez, what happened to your hand? We've got to take care of this." Yanking on Vicki's wrist she dragged her inside and rushed her upstairs into their shared bathroom. She forced Vicki to sit on the edge of the tub. "Stay there, I'll be right back!" Before Vicki could protest however, she was already gone having disappeared downstairs.

Vicki huffed, her little sister could be pretty overprotective sometimes, but she didn't mind too much. Tootie came rushing back with an ice pack in hand and gently laid it on Vicki's knuckles. Unexpectedly, she winced in pain. The raven haired girl frowned, "Sorry, Vicki."

Vicki sighed and huffed, "Its fine, I've been through worse."

Tootie cleaned off Vicki's knuckles and slowly started to bandage her hand, "So you going to tell me what happened?"

Vicki looked away, clearly annoyed. This was already more intensive than their normal discussions. She told her that she would tell her when she was ready. Tootie and Vicki got along fine, they still fought every now and then, but it was more that Tootie just pissed Vicki off on some occasions. It wasn't as bad as it sounds though, they had gotten closer over the years. The sisters were on good terms for the most part. They talked every now and then, about their dreams, fears, hopes. It was rare but it was nice whenever it happened, Vicki was thankful for this small blessing.

"Come on, spill it."

Vicki was frustrated with Tootie's pestering, she pulled her hand away. "I got in a fight with some asshole. He was messing with my things, so I broke his face."

Tootie looked genuinely surprised, "Whoa, what kind of idiot would mess with your stuff?"

Vicki placed her hand on her hips, "Really, Toots? I don't need a lecture or a pop quiz from you, not right now. I just want to get some sleep. Besides, shouldn't you be packing for the trip?"

Tootie frowned as she creased out the ruffles in her skirt, "I already finished yesterday, are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

Vicki rubbed her neck as she sighed, "Toots, we already talked about this, I love Mom and Dad, but a three week cruise doesn't sound that great to me. It would be fun for like the first day, but then I would miss being home and the idea of having the house to myself does sound pretty nice. Besides, you know I get with the sea and all." She closed her eyes and hated herself just a little more after lying to Tootie's face once again.

Tootie nodded remembering the times Vicki had chucked up on every single boat ride they've ever been on. She teased, "Yeah, wouldn't be a great way to make a good first impression on your possible prince charming if he saw you yakking into the ocean."

The redhead burst out laughing, "Oh please, I don't want some 'pretty boy' pining over me, and I'm not looking for anyone, anyways. Not worth the headache if you ask me. I'm doing just fine, Toots."

Tootie frowned, she always hoped that Vicki would find someone that would treat her right, the way she deserved to be treated. She wished that someone could pierce through her icy exterior and see the fragile girl inside and take care of her. She only wanted the best for Vicki.

Vicki stood suddenly and tussled Tootie's hair as she walked past her, "Thanks, Doc."

Tootie hated it when she messed up her hair, "You know how much that bugs me, Vicki." She readjusted her glasses and fixed her hair in the mirror.

Her pink eyes shined as she smiled back at her sister, "And that's why I do it. Anyway, I'm gonna head downstairs and get something to eat."

Tootie called out to her, "Shouldn't you get changed first?!" She sighed in annoyance as her older sister came back and disappeared into her room for a moment. She figured Vicki would tell her the full story in due time, she just had to be patient was all… Tootie put the bandages away and headed for her own room to take a nap.

Vicki tried to tug her shirt over her head but was disgusted to find that the blood had fully dried and made her shirt stick to her chest. She tugged it hard and felt it separate from her body with a crackle. She tossed her bra and shirt into the hamper and decided to just change her outfit entirely. She picked out a pair of black capris, black vans, and a faded green tank top. She sighed as she was able to rest a little easier now. She backed out of her room towards the kitchen.

Vicki rummaged through the pantry for her not-so-secret stash of goodies. _A sandwich and a nap are in order, I think I've more than earned it today._ She pulled out some things and set to work on making a hazelnut and marshmallow spread sandwich. It had been a hard day and she could definitely go for the small comfort this would provide but Timmy's well-being was still gnawing at the back of her mind. She hadn't eaten half her food before she decided to go and visit him.

 _So much for that nap. Maybe he'll be asleep and I can sneak in and then back out before he even gets a chance to wake up? I'll put up with the hospital… but only for a little bit._ She grabbed her car keys and was back out the door.

She pulled into an empty spot and made her way to the receptionist. Surprisingly enough, it was the same woman from before but she seemed to be lost in her work. She was typing away at her desk as Vicki walked up, "Hey, uh, is Timmy Turner still here?"

The nurse shot up in surprise at the mention of his name, "That boy! Oh, I'm so very sorry, dear..." She looked downed at her monitor.

Vicki's heart sank when the woman paused, not looking at her. "What? Why are you sorry?! You can't be sorry! There's no reason to be sorry because he's fine! He is fine isn't he?! Tell me! Tell me right now!"

The woman was startled by Vicki's outburst. "Dear, I was just checking his report. He's alive, he was just discharged only 15 minutes ago. I was just saying that I'm sorry you missed him."

Vicki released a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding. She turned around and shouted over thanks over her shoulder before dashing back to her car. She was happy, all the concerns left her mind. It was great news, Timmy being discharged meant that it must not have been as bad she thought. She smiled as she started the engine and pulled out of the lot, "I guess I don't need to visit him than. His parents haven't called either so they must be staying with him." She smiled even wider. _It just took their son almost dying for them to finally notice him. I wish it didn't have to work that way but these things happen for a reason, right? Either way, I can rest easy now._

She pulled into her driveway and headed straight for her room and jumped on her bed before falling asleep.

Vicki's eyes shot open and scanned the room for what was making so much damn noise. She sat up in bed and glanced at the clock and blinked a few times before she could actually read it, "whazzat.. wh… hmm.. Six in the morning?" She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and reached for her phone as she missed the call. _Someone must have a lot of balls to bother me this early on a Saturday._ She unlocked her phone to have a voicemail notification pop up on her screen under Timmy's parents' names.

She rubbed her eyes once again. _Damn, they were probably cancelling their trip, meaning they would be out and about doing errands to return stuff they weren't going to use. Which means they probably want me to watch the twerp for the day._ She stretched and accidently knocked her hand against her headboard eliciting a curse from the sleep addled woman. She had forgotten about her hand, it was a little less swollen than the day before but it felt very stiff.

She got dressed and listened to her voicemail on speaker phone, "Hi Vicki, do you think you could watch Timmy today? We're going out to run some errands." Yep, Vicki had them pegged just right.

She poured herself some coffee and headed over to Timmy's house. It was surprisingly cold out today. Vicki pulled up but was a little surprised to see there was no car in the driveway. _His parents must have already left_. Vicki used the spare key the Turner's had given her to get in.

The house was quiet, meaning the twerp must still be asleep. _Ugh, of course he's still asleep. It's barely even seven. Why am I even awake? Eh, might as well make the best of this spare time._ She walked over to the kitchen and rifled through the fridge. The poor guy was probably feeling pretty crappy this morning. What started off as a simple chicken noodle soup soon turned into homemade broth, with celery, carrots, diced seasoned chicken and some thin slices of potatoes. Vicki smiled, despite herself, this was probably one of her favorite recipes. She set the container on the kitchen table and set an empty bowl down. While it was one of her favorite recipes, she hadn't made it for herself. With no interest in eating the soup, she picked out a cereal for herself. Just as she finished pouring the milk, she heard the creaking of footsteps on the floor above her and knew that the kid was awake. Vicki headed for the living room door and thus began her day with Timmy Turner.

Vicki touched her good hand against the hot stream of water, it was finally ready. She would have to keep in mind that this shower takes forever to warm up. _God, this boy is making me soft and there's nothing I can really do to stop it_. Vicki paused, did she want to stop it? He had such an effect on her and he had no idea. He still saw her as the crazy evil babysitter who could destroy him with little to no effort but it was better that way. She couldn't imagine what power he would hold over her if he knew that she had no real power over him. She shuddered at the thought. Vicki pushed the thought away one final time and stepped into the hot water, letting it wash away her the rest of her troubles.

Afterwards, she climbed into the foreign bed. Sadly, it was even softer than the one back home. _I'm sure going to miss this bed when I finally have to go back home._ She was exhausted, his panic attack had taken a lot out of her too, and carrying him up the stairs had really taken the wind out of her. She could feel her eyes getting even heavier by the second, her eyes fluttered closed and she relaxed enough to finally fall asleep.


	4. 04:Penny for Your Thoughts

**04: Penny for Your Thoughts**

Vicki's eyes fluttered open slowly. She had slept through the night much better than she thought she would, even her hand looked great. The swelling was gone, there was no pain, and the bruises weren't even there anymore. If you hadn't known that she had hurt it two days ago you wouldn't have ever been able to guess. _Told the twerp he was worrying over nothing_ …

She sat up in bed and tilted her head back as she tried to fill in the blanks of last night. _Dammit, I never should have left him alone…Its bad enough his parents left with only some crappy note as a goodbye but I just disappeared on him entirely. What was I thinking? Argh, my things could have waited..._

A tired sigh escaped her throat. Vicki had just been trying to make things easier by leaving to get her things while he was asleep. Instead, she had just caused a full blown meltdown. _I could have at least woken him up to tell him I would be right back… but, no…I had to be stupid._ The girl ran her fingers through her red hair and let out an aggravated groan. _No, I'm being too hard on myself. Of course packing as much as I can for three months would take more than a few hours… Still, I could have left a note.. No.. then I would be just as bad as his parents, wouldn't I?_

Her pink irises scanned the room from the bed for some sort of clock. Just over the door was a clock. _A little after eleven, huh? Might as well get out of bed. The twerp is probably starving._

She crawled out of bed and popped her back as she stretched for the ceiling before heading for the door. She strode over to his door and was about to knock when the memory of him crashing into her last night flashed before her eyes. She rubbed her temples; She would never forgive herself for her mistake now.. _The look of terror and desperation on his beat up face before he hit me is gonna stick with me forever. He looked so afraid… For once in his life he was running towards me in fear instead of running away.._ She smiled, in a sad sort of way it made her feel special. Vicki wasn't happy with the circumstances that caused it, but it did feel good to be genuinely needed. She'd never been hugged by him, even when they were playing nice in front of his parents. He avoided as much physical contact from her as possible. In fact, everyone did. Vicki couldn't remember being hugged by anyone else, aside from Tootie. Despite all that, the bruises, the black eyes, the bad days, and the days she had been downright cruel to him on, she had never seen Timmy Turner cry. He was like a sponge, he was able to suck it all up and keep moving on, and there was something admirable about that.

To finally see him break however left her feeling sick, like she was being torn in two. As she stood outside his door, she felt a sudden soreness in her arms and legs. _It must be from carrying him up the stairs._ _He's not a little kid anymore, I really shouldn't have carried him to his bed._ She mumbled under her breath,"It was just too hard to watch him struggling like that."

As she was about to knock on the door, a voice echoed from down the hall. " _Pathetic.."_

She twirled around to see no one. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest. It sounded like it was coming from down the hall but there was no one there.

All at once she heard it again, like a chattering of teeth right in her ear, " _Do you even hear yourself?_ "

She swung around, "Who's there?!"

" _So the kid gets a 'big bad boo-boo' on his noggin and you turn in the overbearing mommy type?_ " The chattering wasn't right next to her, no, the voice was coming from inside her head. " _You're absolutely pathetic, Vicki._ "

She tried to ignore the voice, "No, I may be going soft but I am sure as hell not going crazy.."

" _Going soft?! Open your eyes! You get paid to make sure he stays in line and doesn't make a mess of things while his parents are gone. Period. Why do you even care about him? He's still breathing, he'll live. Is it because he reminds you of yourself?"_

Vicki froze while it cackled, " _Mmm, you know how the saying goes… 'Not everything buried is actually dead. For many, the past is alive.' But let's not dwell on the past, lest we get stuck there and die along with it._ "

She shook in a vain attempt to silence the voice.

" _You've walked this road once before…Didn't you learn your lesson the first time? The path of the kind, the soft, and the weak is riddled with pain and misery as they march onward defenseless. Though they remain blind to the pain, lost in a mindless bliss that keeps them 'safe' and 'numb', it steadily dwindles the walls down and all at once will one day swallow them whole. It will crush and tear their hearts to pieces. The fools, they walk into the fire with wide open arms and smiles on their faces. Do you really want this again?_ "

Vicki struggled to breathe as she leaned against the wall.

" _Don't be a fool. Don't throw away what you've worked for so long to keep. If you put your guard down for a second, you will be consumed as well_."

There was a sudden tightness in her throat that made each breath hurt as it entered her lungs. Her eyes went wide as she saw the door to Timmy's room creep open. Vicki stumbled over and into his room to find him still asleep on his bed. She stood over him and saw his face, still darkened here and there with purplish discolorations.

" _You have a prime warning of weakness right in front of you…See the scars that will settle into his flesh. The fool wears his heart on his sleeve and suffers endlessly for it. He'll only drag you down with him… In fact… he's only holding us back…"_

Her arm twitched at her side and out of control it lunged for his throat as he slept. Her pink eyes lit up in a panicked horror. Seemingly still peacefully asleep, his eyes remained closed as her fingers wrapped around his neck. She struggled to pull away from him as unconsciously her grip on his throat tightened. "No! No, stop!" She saw the color slowly drain from his face. With one last frantic pull, she yanked away from him and fell onto her back. She clambered to her feet and ran for the door.

" _Don't be weak!_ " the voice roared in her skull. " _Kill the parasite before it burrows into your heart! We vowed never to go back to being a goddamn door mat! We just took it and took it! 'But, never again!' those were your words, not mine! Why won't you remember?!_ "

She crashed into the front door before she ran outside barefoot into the pouring rain. Her lungs burned as she cut through the yard. She covered her ears to block out the horrible voice.

It repeated, " _Why won't you remember? Oh...It's clear to me now… It's because all that's on your mind these days is Timmy this, and Timmy that!"_

"Stop it!" she screamed against the roaring of thunder in the distance as her bare feet slammed against the wet concrete.

" _Since when does Vicki Valentine run away? Shouldn't you be back there whipping him up another breakfast like a good little housewife? Oh, I get it. I know what you're doing! You're picking up the morning paper, aren't you? Isn't it a great life to be a servant? A slave? Well, don't let me stop you... It's not like we were destined for greatness or anything!"_

Vicki ran until her legs burned her body begged her to stop. She coughed in a fit as she leaned against the brick fence of a random home. The pain in her chest grew worse with every puff of breath she took. The rain poured down on her head. The rain dimming the vibrancy of her fiery locks as she slumped to the ground and clutched at her chest. She was spent. Vicki couldn't run another step and couldn't block out the voice as she covered her ears.

" _You can't block me out.. I'm still here. (sigh) He's got you whipped and doesn't even have a clue! It's not too late though, this whole thing can still be salvaged. Remind him just what kind of monster you can be, he still looks at you with that glimmer of fear in his eyes. That look of fear isn't something that's just earned overnight, that's something born from years and years of threats and being a heartless bitch. It's been engrained deep in his psyche, deep down he knows you're a monster. You've gone and confused the little nitwit with all this 'nice' shit, he's getting comfortable around you. I say it's time we got back to our roots and remind him what you're truly like. You planted the idea, but it's time to crack the whip and clear up the silly notion in his head that you might still have a real heart beating in your chest."_

Vicki lurched forward onto her hands and knees and felt her stomach churn. She gasped for air between coughs. "Shut the hell up!" she gasped between coughs.

 _Disregarding her, it continued "Though you did have a good start, you've had so many opportunities to crush him, but you let them slip past. 'I'm not being nice, I'm just saving myself a headache?' Really, bravo. That was some pretty quick thinking but I know we can do better. That was child's play, we all know it. You're a monster 24/7, 365 days a year. So why choose now to 'go soft'? You keep everyone at arm's length or farther, you watch everything from behind your mask, and you'd step on people's throats to get what you want. That's not what makes you a monster though, Vicki. It's what's lying beneath the surface, underneath that cracking mask. That's what people should be afraid of. You know it just as well as I do that you are broken. You can play pretend if you want. You can pretend that what's underneath is just a little girl that wants to feel and be loved and I know it doesn't sound so dangerous. I mean, he's the only one around for months, but that's exactly what makes it dangerous. What's there to benefit by showing him what you were like anyway? It won't last, it can't… Because that little girl died years ago. What took her place doesn't need love, friendship, or anyone. All it needs is power. All we need is power."_

Vicki's chest heaved as she coughed and tasted the all too familiar flavor of metal on her tongue. "Stop it.." the words came out cracked and weak.

 _"Me? Stop what? I have no real power.. I'm… well I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.. All I can really do is sit and watch as a helpless passenger in the backseat. I'm just along for the ride to watch you run us off the road. I may have my moments where I can really shine through, but mostly I'm stuck watching you make mistake after mistake."_

Vicki cried in pain as her blood spilled from her lips onto the concrete beneath her as she gritted her teeth and tried not to vomit up her lungs.

 _Been a long time since we saw our own blood, hasn't it? …you know, I'm not so sure you're even up to the task anymore… It's not like our original plan wasn't all that complicated. Steal, con, and swindle anyone we can for as much as we can. Once we had gathered up enough funding, we would escape this little burg of a town. Hell, if we were lucky we would be watching it burn down in the rear-view mirror. Now tell me, whatever happened to that plan? Sadly, I know the answer to that one too. He got under your skin, you_ _ **let him**_ _wiggle under your skin. You let the little parasite burrow inside, you just need to tear him out now before he ruins everything… If you won't, I gladly will. I'm starting to think it's already too late… He's made you weak…"_

Her vision blurred as her hands clenched into fists. Blood flew from her mouth and speckled the ground as she stumbled to her feet. The pain was near unbearable as she shivered in the cold. She felt as if she was drowning but the rage boiling inside her was enough to power her through it.

 _"Ooh, struck a nerve did we? Oh, don't try and deny it. What's the point, Vicki? You'd be lying to both of us, you've been whittled down. There's no shame in admitting that, just hand over the reins to me. Besides, it's not like you can resist me for much longer, anyway. Why are you crashing us into the ground? Can't you see it? You're walking straight into a trap, again. You let Tootie get her foot in the door and now you can't shake the nosy little bitch. She's become self-entitled, who is she to think she can try and pull back the mask? We don't need to be saved. Once, I put the twerp back in his place, I'll make her suffer too._

Vicki gasped in pain as she stumbled against the wall, "Not…" She burst into a fit of coughs as parts of her throat splattered against the wall, "if I have.." She swallowed hard, "anything to say about.. it..." The redhead was nearing her limit as she staggered down the sidewalk.

" _Don't you try and walk away from me! Why defend them?! Do you really think they care about you? The girl only sees us damaged goods that she needs to keep tabs on. The stupid boy only sees a bipolar abomination and plays the friendly card to minimize his pain. He'll just use you. What do you even see happening if you stay the course as it is? All I can see on the horizon in the stupid dreamland you've conjured up is a dreary little life in the suburbs… Typical low budget household with a cliché white picket fence. Oh you must be joking… There's a little girl running round while you have a snot nosed little boy on your hip as you wait for 'hubby' to come back from work… It's disgusting… Why would you even want that? It's not like you can ever have that sort of life anyhow. Don't you see? You'd just be throwing away what we've been working on for years. If you let this happen, this place will only wind up as your grave. You're already dead inside, why even try?_ "

Vicki struggled through the numbness that was overtaking her body as she struggled to head back to the house. As she stifled her coughing fits, she was otherwise silent. As she ignored the voice in her mind, she had only angered it further.

 _"And yet you're actually still going through with it? Why won't you see reason?! You're throwing it away for what?! Some stupid child who can't even stand to be alone?!" The voice cackled and dropped to a sinister whisper. "When I take control I'll be sure to force you watch as I make him suffer! I'll make him scream and beg in agony!"_

Vicki froze with fear, slumping against the wall for support.

" _You're usefulness is coming to an end as is. So, go ahead, run back to him… Let him open his heart to you.. Yes, it will make it all that much sweeter to wretch it from his chest. I can almost hear the screams now. It will be so amazing to watch the look of betrayal on that disgusting face of his. Since you're so keen on running things into the ground, I say we might as well do it right. Once you're gone, there will be no one left to keep him safe from me.. No one to stop me from beating him to an inch of his life.. I think you and I both know how out of hand I can get when you let me loose.. I will admit, it was excruciatingly fun to inflict pain on that gray skinned fool. Oh, to watch that look of fear on his face was practically intoxicating. You weren't afraid of yourself, Vicki, you were afraid of me. You know full well what my intentions were. Oh, I can't wait to watch that same look of terror on the boy's bucktoothed little face… or well, what will be left of it once I'm done. It will be so much better than it was with Francis, I can only imagine the pure bliss of watching the life leave those blue eyes of his…_ "

"No!" Her eyes opened wide in horror as she screamed. She bolted up in bed, drenched in a cold sweat. She clenched the sheets tightly as she gasped and choked for air. She fought the sobs that shook her shoulders. "…It was only a dream…" she wrapped her arms around herself and rocked gently. The words repeatedly fell from her lips. "…It was only a dream…" She scanned the room from behind her tussled bangs as they clung to her face. Her tear filled eyes fell on the clock and she let out a quiet startled yelp. It was just a little after eleven, just like the dream. She was on the brink of a mental breakdown. "NO… No, it was just a nightmare…. Just a horrible nightmare!" She pressed her fists to her temples as if to shake away the words that crawled to the front of her mind, but she couldn't.

'- _pure bliss watching the life leave those blue eyes-'_

Vicki slumped back into her pillow as her adrenaline faded. She motioned to rub her eyes but cringed when she felt a pain in her hand. The pain brought a crazed smile to her lips. "It was just a dream!" She laughed almost in disbelief as her tears escaped and rolled down her cheeks. It was still swollen and was now partially numb; definitely not a good sign but at the same time she couldn't stop smiling at it. She sat up, her back was aching. She must have been tossing and turning throughout the night, and now she had a crick in her back. Her body was sore even though she had taken a hot shower and slept in a good bed. Her body felt terrible but she still couldn't wipe the smile from her face, not that she wanted to. She rubbed the small of her back and stretched as she got out of bed. With a nervous chuckle she muttered, "Heh, I really should take care of this..."

Shuffling to the bathroom, she ran her knuckles under cool water and sighed as she was soothed slightly of her pain. Her stomach growled ferociously and reminded her of her hunger. "I guess I haven't really eaten much since yesterday morning. I just packed the whole time…and then when I got back…" She half expected the voice to cut in but was thankful to be met by only silence.

As she entered the hall she saw that his door was still closed, she really couldn't stand to see him right now. _I still need a few minutes to get a solid grip._ She sighed and made her way past his room and down the stairs. She stopped in front of the bags and contemplated hefting them up the stairs into the guest room but opted against it. She would do it after breakfast was ready, then it would give her an excuse to leave the room while he ate. _I am getting too attached, I need to distance myself from him again before…_ she shook away the thought. _One thing at a time…I'd better get started._ Vicki pushed open the kitchen door but froze when her eyes landed on Timmy.

* * *

AN: I'm sorry if this got a little more dark..


	5. 05:Who Am I Really?

**05: Who Am I Really?**

He sat facing away from her, he was so still that Vicki wasn't even sure if this was all just another crazy dream of hers. He glanced over his shoulder at her before turning his attention back forward. "Oh.. Hey."

 _Guess this isn't a dream. Now I'm really glad I didn't come down her in just panties and my tank.._ She shifted awkwardly in the door frame of the kitchen. "Hey."

"You slept in pretty late, you okay?" he asked simply.

Vicki chuckled nervously with the dream still fresh in her mind. "I could ask you the same thing, Twerp... Are you alright?" It came out much more forced than she would have liked, it still felt strange to ask him if he was alright. While she didn't want to come across as caring too much, she now sounded like she was struggling to even care at all.

Vicki walked by him and took a seat at the table. He gave her an odd look before speaking, "I guess I just couldn't sleep anymore. I have been asleep for the most part these past few days... I was hungry and figured I'd make something to eat. I just wound up reheating some of the soup you made. I didn't think I would have much trouble falling asleep after that but the longer I was awake, the more I thought about… all this." He gestured to himself and the room. Vicki finally noticed the empty bowl in front of him and the small cup of orange juice next to it. Vicki's stomach growled but she chose to ignore it.

She sighed, "You mean being stuck here, with me? All while seemingly the rest of the town is out on their own crazy adventures while we're trapped in a boring little house. Not to mention that we're both hurting in our own ways so trips are out of the question anyway." She raised her bruised hand for emphasis. "Did I peg that about right?" She stood up to get some food from the fridge and pulled out a little luncheables.

Timmy nodded while looking at her incredulously. "When you put it like that, you make it sound like a romantic getaway."

Vicki shot him a smirk and batted her eyelashes at him, "Hey now, I'm a great catch. So you should consider yourself lucky that you're stuck with me for this 'romantic getaway'." Her voice was laced with sarcasm but it still got the twerp to blush beet red.

He stuttered with pink cheeks, "I-I I wasn't saying.. I mean… T-that's not what I meant to say.." He was a stuttering mess.

Vicki chuckled to herself, "Twerp, I was joking. Come on, you know that. Besides, you're like six years younger than me. I'm not even sure how that sort of thing would work."

Timmy just stared at her with a bewildered look on his face, a look that the redhead didn't appreciate. "What? Do I have something on my face?" she touched at her cheek in a vain attempt to find some particle of lunch meat on her cheek.

Timmy shook his head slowly. He wasn't sure how he was even going to get this message across without triggering the landmines he was no doubt standing on at this moment. "You know… Not that I'm complaining because I'm not, but you've been different lately."

Vicki tilted her head at him with a curious expression and an edge in her voice, "What the hell do you mean 'different?'"

That lilt in her voice made him wonder if anything about her was really different. She said she wasn't being nice, that she was saving herself a headache. The way she acted last night, though, that told a different story. He just wasn't sure if he should try to drag something like that out of her. She could have torn him to pieces with ridicule last night but she didn't. Maybe it was some unspoken agreement that he didn't realize he had agreed to. A 'if neither of us talks about it, then it never happened' sort of thing. He had to trust his gut though, there was something going on.

He would need to tread carefully; he nudged his near empty glass towards her direction, "Like right there, 'Twerp'. You've called me Twerp for years. But lately it doesn't feel the same. There's something different when you say it. Back then, whenever you said it I knew trouble was coming and it filled me with this fear that I could never really shake. Now, though, it just feels like a nickname rather than an insult. Things are different, it's hard to explain but I can feel it. Like right now, I'm comfortable. I don't feel like I need to run into another room just because you're right in front of me. It's because you've been nicer to me. Well, now you're nicer to me, up until a few days ago you were just less aggressive. You haven't threatened me in weeks. At first, I wasn't sure if it was some elaborate plan to throw me off guard and attack me when I was at my weakest. But so far, nothing has happened, at least not yet. You aren't the same person as when you started babysitting me. That was already seven years ago, I'm sixteen, I'm not even sure why you still accept this job. Don't get me wrong…" A blush spread on his cheeks once again, "I'm… I'm even a little excited when I know you're coming over.. It's not that you don't force me to do chores anymore, or that you don't yell at me. I don't really know what it is.. I do know that we can sit on the same couch together and just watch TV, and that's something we could never do before. It's just a lot to take in sometimes. It's almost like we're friends." He had a nervous smile that hurt to look at.

Vicki felt cornered. It was true that things had been very different in the past few weeks but they had never actually spoken of it. It was like he was digging up one of her worst secrets. This was going to be painful but she needed to stop this right here and right now. She shifted forward in her seat, "Alright, let me just pop your happy little bubble right there. Let get things straight, I don't need some snot nosed little kid drooling all over me. It's just sad. The only reason you're 'excited' to see me is because you're crushing on me.."

He looked startled and confused, "Wha- No, I-I'm-"

She cut him off, "Listen up, we're stuck with each other. It's not like I have a choice about leaving you on your own. You wind up dead and it's my ass that will get in trouble for it.. Plain and simple. I have been slacking off on you lately. I could make you clean and scrub until your hands bleed. I could make you wash my car twenty times over and over just because I feel like it. I could lock you in your room for as long as I want. I could beat you. I could come up with an endless list of boring shit for you to do. I could scream at you until my voice was hoarse, but I don't. I don't do any of that and it's not because we're 'friends', it's much simpler than that. It's because I'm lazy. That's it, no grand scheme in it all. I've just been lazy and enjoying some goddamn peace and quiet. It looks like I've been too relaxed though, I've gone and gotten this stupid idea in your head that we can be 'friends.'" He looked away from her as she spoke.

"Just saying the stupid word makes me want to vomit. You've already got lots of friends, you don't need me as one too." His cool blue eyes turned back to her and the look on his face hurt her more than she had expected. He looked so defeated and hopeless. _Don't look at me like that…_

"I.. I don't need you as a friend.." The words came out hurt and sad.

 _Ouch._ "Glad we're on the same page than."

He swallowed hard, "You didn't let me finish.."

 _Well I asked for this, technically, so you might as well get hit me with everything you've got.._ "What is it, _Twerp_?" She put extra emphasis on his moniker but he didn't flinch.

"I don't need you as a friend, but I want you as one all the same."

… _Dammit…_ "Listen, -"

He stood suddenly and planted his hands on the table, knocking his chair over in the process. "Will you shut up and listen to me for once?!"

Vicki did the same, and she glared at him from across the table. "And why the hell should I?!"

He faltered for a moment but stood his ground, "Because I know you care about me!"

Vicki scoffed, "Dream on, stupid. I don't care about you at all." _I can't let him in.. I can't let him whittle me down. I need to fight this… no matter what happens._

Tears welled up on his cheeks. "You don't mean that…"

Vicki slammed her fist on the table and ignored the shooting pain in her hand and looked away. "Of course I do! You could drop dead for all I care…" _…too far…_ "Its not like if you died I would have all that many problems. Police would be involved, naturally, but I could just show the note as evidence of child neglect and it would be out of my hands from there. They would arrest your parents as soon as they could and I could get on with my life. Nothing would change for the worse." _What is wrong with me?!_ She didn't motion to look at him but she could feel him staring at her.

His voice was shaking, "Say that again.. Say it to my face.."

She turned to see that broken face of his. Bruised, beaten, and red. Tears streamed down his face. His eye was still partially shut and still swollen. He wasn't filled with anger, just sadness. It made her chest ache. _It's safer for you to hate me._ Her pink eyes shooting daggers at him. _I'm so sorry for this, Timmy._ She spat ever word at him, " You. Could. Drop. Dead. For. All. I. Care."

A small smile spread across his lips as tears streamed down his cheeks. "..You're lying."

 _God, why are you making this so damn difficult?_ "Why can't you get it through your thick skull, idiot?! I really don't care!" She screamed at him but he was unmoved by her outburst.

"…If you really don't care about me at all, then why did you stop Francis?"

The redhead froze, "W-what are you talking about?

He didn't break his stare, "Vicki, he was probably going to kill me. I know it was you that saved me… There isn't anyone else I can think of that could have saved me; that could have stopped him. I'm why you hurt your hand.."

She clenched her teeth, "Shut up.."

He continued, "If you don't care about me, than why did you try to calm me down yesterday? Why didn't you push me away?"

Vicki groaned in aggravation, "What does it matter?! It makes no difference."

"But it does… It means everyone else is wrong about you.. but I wasn't, not really."

"Oh god, don't tell me you're really going to go all touchy feely on me right now…"

"Vicki, I know there's got to be more to you than meets the eye! I believe that deep down you are a good person. I don't know why you've acted the way you have in the past but that doesn't really matter now. I want to know why you're acting this way now.. I want to understand."

The longer this conversation was being dragged out, the more Vicki wished she could just run away and hide from his questions. Truth be told, she really didn't know why. She hadn't been able to pinpoint it, why now. She couldn't figure out why she was changing this way. It terrified her, she found herself caring about things that wouldn't have bothered her all that long ago. Timmy stared at her and waited patiently. She could feel a rage swelling in her chest, right now she hated that patient look of his. _Who was he to try and ask anything of me? How dare he!_

"I don't know! Okay?! I don't know! How can someone be both naïve and nice and still be so damn aggravating?! What makes you think you have the right to ask me anything? Listen, just because I'm not as angry as I used to be in the past doesn't mean we're going to just magically become friends now. It doesn't work that way. Now, I'm going to give you some friendly advice so listen up!" She reached over the table and yanked him roughly by his shirt collar so their faces were inches apart.

Her piercing pink eyes boring into his skull. "Keep your nose out of my business if you know what's good for you…" She shoved him back and he nearly fell over the chair. "Clean this up." She let out another annoyed huff before leaving the kitchen.

Timmy slowly picked up the chairs and leaned against the counter, "Well.. That could have gone a lot worse…"

Meanwhile, Vicki used her anger to pick up the bags and carry them upstairs where she hurled them into the guest room. "That should keep him at bay for a while.. I just know he's not going to let this go… Ugh.. I didn't even get to eat anything other than that stupid lunch thing. Ah, screw it.." She headed back downstairs and plopped down on the couch. She would enjoy this peace and quiet for as long as she could. No crazy voice in her head, no meddling Twerp, no grumbling stomach, and nothing else to do but watch TV. As she reached for the remote, she was brought back down to Earth by the throbbing pain in her knuckles. "Fu-… Gnhhh. Damn, that hurts…"

 _Guess I don't really have a choice now. It's only getting worse. Well there goes my Sunday afternoon.._ She marched back upstairs and got changed for the day. As she came back downstairs, she noticed that she hadn't heard a thing from the twerp since their little discussion. _He's probably still in the kitchen._ She popped her head inside, "Twerp! I'm going to the hospital! Be back in a few.."

He didn't move to look at her, he just stood at the sink staring shrugged and headed for the door. _Silent treatment huh? Real mature.. Fine by me, if that's the way you want it than that's how its gonna be._ Halfway out the door, she was stopped when she felt something snake around her wrist. She yelped in surprise only to find Timmy grabbing her by the wrist firmly.

Vicki had almost jumped out of her skin, "Jesus! You scared the crap out me. What do you want now?!"

Timmy let go of her and sheepishly looked at his feet then looked up at her. "D-Do you want me to go with you?"

 _Great, now he was back to being a stuttering shy kid._ Vicki sighed, she hated hospitals with a burning passion. And while she did want someone to go with her, she wasn't sure if she wanted it to be Turner. Especially after that little spat back there. It was usually Tootie that went with her to help hold her big sister together, but with her being gone that wasn't really an option. She wasn't sure how she was going to do this on her own and she really didn't want him to see her like that. _Why is he offering like this after how I acted?_

Looks like there was no way around it. She didn't want to go alone but the twerp was her only option as much as she wished he wasn't. "Fine… Get dressed.." She tried to sound as annoyed as possible but was confused when she saw a smile grow on Timmy's face. He turned around and headed upstairs as quickly as he could. Vicki crossed her arms and leaned against the open doorframe as the warm sunlight from outside poured onto her shoulders. _What the hell was that about?_ She blew her bangs out of her face. _He has been cooped up inside for the past two days. Maybe he's just afraid of being alone again… What the hell am I doing bringing him along though? This always turns out only one way…_

Not even two minutes later and Timmy was descending the stairs in his signature pink hat and t-shirt with blue jeans. Vicki sighed as he walked past her and outside. "Let's get this over with…" She closed the door and turned the lock before heading for her car. She looked at him one last time before they piled in and sped down towards downtown Dimmsdale.

… _How can he still be so happy?_

* * *

AN: I figured we're a little overdue for one. I am glad to be back to this story, but what do you all think so far? For those who have left comments, I did read them and I appreciate all eight of them. ^-^ I felt bad for leaving you all waiting, this chapter was supposed to be out this Sunday but there were "complications." This chapter was supposed to be the combination of seven and eight of the previous version but I'm releasing it a little early to give you all something to tide you over until I can get back on track. As always, thanks for reading.


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